1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments described herein relate to the field of microsurgical probes. More particularly, embodiments described herein are related to the field of surgical illumination using broadband light sources, and more particularly, to the use of supercontinuum lasers in illumination and surgical applications.
2. Description of Related Art
The field of microsurgical procedures is evolving rapidly. Typically, these procedures involve the use of probes that are capable of reaching the tissue that is being treated or diagnosed. Such procedures make use of endoscopic surgical instruments having a probe coupled to a controller device in a remote console. Current state of the art probes are quite complex in operation, often times requiring moving parts that are operated using complex mechanical systems. In many cases, an electrical motor is included in the design of the probe. Most of the prior art devices have a cost that makes them difficult to discard after one or only a few surgical procedures. Furthermore, the complexity of prior art devices leads generally to probes having cross sections of several millimeters. These probes are of little practical use for ophthalmic microsurgical techniques. In ophthalmic surgery, dimensions of one (1) mm or less are preferred, to access areas typically involved without damaging unrelated tissue.
Scanning mechanisms that allow time-dependent direction of light for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes have been used in endoscopic surgical instruments. These instruments typically use probes that provide imaging, treatment, or both, over an extended area of tissue without requiring motion of the endoscope relative to its surroundings. However, there are typically multiple probes for each function, and different light sources are used for different applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a common light source useful for multiple functions that provides effective illumination in small-scale probes.